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writing-mode

The writing-mode CSS property defines whether lines of text are laid out horizontally or vertically, as well as the direction in which blocks progress.

/* Keyword values */
writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
writing-mode: vertical-rl;
writing-mode: vertical-lr;

/* Global values */
writing-mode: inherit;
writing-mode: initial;
writing-mode: unset;

This property specifies the block flow direction, which is the direction in which block-level containers are stacked, and the direction in which inline-level content flows within a block container. Thus, it also determines the ordering of block-level content.

Initial value	`horizontal-tb`
Applies to	all elements except table row groups, table column groups, table rows, and table columns
Inherited	yes
Media	visual
Computed value	as specified
Animation type	discrete
Canonical order	the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

The writing-mode property is specified as one of the values listed below.

Values

horizontal-tb: Content flows horizontally from left to right, vertically from top to bottom. The next horizontal line is positioned below the previous line.
vertical-rl: Content flows vertically from top to bottom, horizontally from right to left. The next vertical line is positioned to the left of the previous line.
vertical-lr: Content flows vertically from top to bottom, horizontally from left to right. The next vertical line is positioned to the right of the previous line.
sideways-rl: Content flows vertically from top to bottom and all the glyphs, even those in vertical scripts, are set sideways toward the right.

sideways-lr: Content flows vertically from top to bottom and all the glyphs, even those in vertical scripts, are set sideways toward the left.
lr: Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use horizontal-tb instead.
lr-tb: Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use horizontal-tb instead.
rl: Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use horizontal-tb instead.
tb: Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use vertical-lr instead.
tb-rl: Deprecated except for SVG1 documents. For CSS, use vertical-rl instead.

Formal syntax

horizontal-tb | vertical-rl | vertical-lr | sideways-rl | sideways-lr

Example

This example demonstrates all of the writing modes, showing each with text in various languages.

HTML

The HTML is simply a <table> with each writing mode in a row with a column showing text in various scripts using that writing mode.

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Value</th>
    <th>Vertical script</th>
    <th>Horizontal script</th>
    <th>Mixed script</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>horizontal-tb</td>
    <td class="example Text1"><span>我家没有电脑。</span></td>
    <td class="example Text1"><span>Example text</span></td>
    <td class="example Text1"><span>1994年に至っては</span></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>vertical-lr</td>
    <td class="example Text2"><span>我家没有电脑。</span></td>
    <td class="example Text2"><span>Example text</span></td>
    <td class="example Text2"><span>1994年に至っては</span></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>vertical-rl</td>
    <td class="example Text3"><span>我家没有电脑。</span></td>
    <td class="example Text3"><span>Example text</span></td>
    <td class="example Text3"><span>1994年に至っては</span></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>sideways-lr</td>
    <td class="example Text4"><span>我家没有电脑。</span></td>
    <td class="example Text4"><span>Example text</span></td>
    <td class="example Text4"><span>1994年に至っては</span></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>sideways-rl</td>
    <td class="example Text5"><span>我家没有电脑。</span></td>
    <td class="example Text5"><span>Example text</span></td>
    <td class="example Text5"><span>1994年に至っては</span></td>
  </tr>
</table>

CSS

The CSS that adjusts the directionality of the content looks like this:

.example.Text1 span, .example.Text1 {
  writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
  -webkit-writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
  -ms-writing-mode: horizontal-tb;
}

.example.Text2 span, .example.Text2 {
  writing-mode: vertical-lr;
  -webkit-writing-mode: vertical-lr;
  -ms-writing-mode: vertical-lr;
}

.example.Text3 span, .example.Text3 {
  writing-mode: vertical-rl;
  -webkit-writing-mode: vertical-rl;
  -ms-writing-mode: vertical-rl;
}

.example.Text4 span, .example.Text4 {
  writing-mode: sideways-lr;
  -webkit-writing-mode: sideways-lr;
  -ms-writing-mode: sideways-lr;
}

.example.Text5 span, .example.Text5 {
  writing-mode: sideways-rl;
  -webkit-writing-mode: sideways-rl;
  -ms-writing-mode: sideways-rl;
}

Result

This image shows what the output should look like, in case your browser's support for writing-mode is incomplete:

Specification

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Writing Modes Module Level 3 The definition of 'writing-mode' in that specification.	Candidate Recommendation	Initial definition
CSS Writing Modes Level 4 The definition of 'writing-mode' in that specification.	Editor's Draft	Add `sideways-lr` and `sideways-rl`

Browser compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	Yes 8 -webkit-	Yes Yes -webkit-	41¹ 36 — 51²	9 -ms- ³	15 -webkit-	5.1 -webkit-
`lr`, `lr-tb`, `rl`, `rl-tb`, `tb`, and `tb-rl`	48	Yes	43	9 -ms-	Yes	?
`horizontal-tb`, `vertical-lr`, and `vertical-rl`	Yes	No	43	No	Yes	?
`sideways-lr` and `sideways-rl`	No	?	43	No	No	?

Feature	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Edge mobile	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	iOS Safari	Samsung Internet
Basic support	Yes 3 -webkit-	Yes 47 -webkit-	Yes Yes -webkit-	41¹ 36 — 51²	?	5.1 -webkit-	?
`lr`, `lr-tb`, `rl`, `rl-tb`, `tb`, and `tb-rl`	48	48	Yes	43	?	?	?
`horizontal-tb`, `vertical-lr`, and `vertical-rl`	No	No	No	?	?	?	?
`sideways-lr` and `sideways-rl`	No	No	?	?	?	?	?

1. Firefox 42 added support for bidirectional and RTL scripts in vertical modes.

2. From version 36 until version 51 (exclusive): this feature is behind the layout.css.vertical-text.enabled preference (needs to be set to true). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

3. Internet Explorer's implementation differs from the specification.